Rail joint



' Ju ly 1932- J. F. E. FOREST ET AL RAIL- JOINT Filed June 19. 1951INVEN was {I M 5* HTTORNEX Patented July 26, 1932 warren STATES PATENTQFFECE' JOSEPH FELIX EDOUARD FOREST, OF JOLIETTE, QUEBEC, AND ALZEARDFLORANT 'f' JOANISSE, OF HAWKESBURY, ONTARIO, CANADA RAIL JOINTApplication filed June 19, 1931. Serial No; 545,412. r

The invention relates to rail joints, as described in the presentspecification and illustrated in the accompanying drawing that formspart of the same.

This invention consists essentially of the novel self-locking feature ina rail joint as pointed out in the claims for novelty, following adescription containing an explanation in detail of the preferredconstruction.

The objects of the invention are to facilitate the laying of tracks byeliminating the use of plates and bolts; to construct a joint that willbequiet when trains pass over it; to provide a rail joint in which wearwill be negligible to such an extent that periodical replacement ofrails will be necessary at the 7 minimum, and, generally to reduce thecosts of production of special joints and increase the efliclency aswell as facilitating the 1nstallation.

;, en on the line 3-3 Figure 2. a

Figure 4c 1S a view of the underside of the rail showingthe lockingmember.

Fi ure 5 is a detail view lllustratln the a l u a a method of assembhngthe JOlIlt.

And Figure 6 is a cross sectional View showing a modified form of theinvention.

Like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the variousfigures.

Referring to the drawing, two rails ends and 16 of the meeting railswhich are fastened to ties 17 and 18 by. the spikes 19, are connectedtogether at the oblique undercut and overcut ends forming the split 20.

The rail end 15 is formed with a tapered boss 21 fitting into a taperedcavity 22 in the rail end 16 thereby forming the supporting surfaces 23and 24: in the head of the rail end 16 for the aligning tongue 25 fromthe centre of the head of the rail end 16, lower down in the web of therail end 15 the squared boss 26 registers with the square cavity 27 andaligns the web in the base 28 of the rail 16, the tongue 29 projectsinto the recess 30 and aligns the base. This forms a boss 31 ofirregular shape between the cavities 27 and 30 extending into therail 15from the rail end-16. The key 32 extends from thebase of the rail end 15and is recessed in the base of the rail end 16 from the underside, saidrecess having the transverse slots 33 and re-. ceiving the cross piece34.

To assemble the track, the ends of the rails are elevated as shown inFigure-5. The key 32is placed in the recess inthe base of the rail end15 and the rails are lowered to the ground. Asthey arelowered the railends swing together, the tapered boss21 slides into the tapered cavity22 and the bosses 26 and 29 fit into their corresponding cavities 27 and30. v Itis of'course necessary to allow suf-. ficient clearance forexpansion and c'ontraction dueto changesintemperature. I The'res ultofthe assembly of th rail ends is that th'e'surfaces abutting oneanother insure a three to four point bearing and in no instance is therea perpendicular line ofcon; tact orza continuous-oblique line,consequently the distribution of the load is so spread longitudinally asto forbid theupper end of the split to communicate with'the lower endexcept through intermediate contact points forming actual bearings.

In operation, the oint will'normally lie flat, the wheels of the rollingstock in passing v depress the rail slightly. causing the boss 21 topress on the supporting surface 24 in turn depressingthe end of the rail16. /Vhen the train approaches on the other rail 16 the surface 23 willbear on the boss 21 and draw down the end of the rail 15. It is ofcourse to be understood that thismovement will be very slight and willin fact occur only'when wear and expansion separate the ends of therails and bring this self aligning feature intoplay While we have shownour oint in use with railroad tracks it'inay also be used to join Theload bearing on the upper surface of I the girder will keep thejoint'closed at all times, and removal of the load will allowdisconnecting off the joint if required.

What We claim is i 1. In rail joints, comprising a pair of rai endsabutting one another, an oblique groove in one rail end and a tongue onthe other rail end, cavities in said tongue, bosses formed in saidgroove to correspond with the cavities in said tongue and adapted toregister With one another When the rall ends are together,

and a locking member on one rail end engaging a recess in the other railend for locking 7 the rails together. i

2. In rail joints, comprising a pair of rail ends abutting one anotherand forming an oblique split between the rails, a groove in Vonerail,irregular shaped bosses formed in said groove, a tongue on the otherrail end and having cavities corresponding With the bosses in saidgroove and adapted to register With one another to form bearing surfacesfrom rail to rail, and means for locking said rail ends together. l

3. In rail joints, comprising-a pair of rail ends abutting one anotherand forming an oblique split between the rails, a groove 'in one railend, irregular shaped bosses formed in said groove, a tongue on theother rail end and having cavities corresponding with the bosses in saidgroove and adapted to register -With one another to form bearingsurfaces from rail to rail, and a locking member on one rail endengaging a recess in the other.

rail end for locking the railstogether. Signed at Montreal, Canada, this13th da of April 1931.

ALZEARD FLORANT JOANISS E.

JOSEPH FELIX snonAanroar-sr.

